County rethinks library patronage, budget

by Kathleen ThurberMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 6:00 pm, Sunday, February 21, 2010

With a circulation per capita that falls among the lowest quarter in the state for its population and an annual budget of more than $1.7 million per year, the Midland County Commissioners' Court has begun assessing how it can improve both the library's usage and its budget in future years.

"Our library is an expensive operation and it should have some focused attention to see if we can maximize it," Midland County Judge Mike Bradford said.

Using a four-fold process that will involve citizens, library staff, the library's advisory board and an outside consultant, Bradford said they're hoping to formulate a long-term plan that will allow for the county library to adapt to the future needs of its citizens.

Whether that will mean updating access and collections at the current downtown library, transitioning to new technologies as people move away from paper books or looking at whether a different location would be better will depend on what recommendations are brought to the court, Bradford said.

"We're not sure what the library of the future looks like," Bradford said.

In Fiscal Year 2008, the most current statistics released from the state, Midland County Library's circulation per capita, or the number of items checked out for each person in the county, was 2.53.

The average circulation per capita for a town in Midland's population bracket is 4.37, with Midland's circulation per capita falling in the lowest 25th percentile of similar-sized libraries that report to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Odessa and Abilene reported circulation per capitas of 4.51 and 6.42 respectively. Lubbock's is 3.81.

Midland's average number of visits per capita also is among the lowest with 1.16 visits per capita in Fiscal Year 2008 compared with the state's average of 2.85.

Midland County Librarian Denise Johnson said when comparing Midland's statistics with similar cities the numbers don't always tell the whole story.

One comparable library, she said, is located near a hospital, which makes its numbers jump. In another similar-sized town, the main library branch is located in the heart of a neighborhood, which also increases circulation.

The state averages also are compiled for populations of between 100,000 and 249,999, meaning Midland falls at the lower end.

Plus, said President of the Friends of the Library Louisa Valencia, Midland County has one of the largest genealogy collections in the state and one of the only petroleum sections. Those resources are visited often, but since they're not checked out the usage doesn't play into circulation statistics.

Still, Bradford said, when spending nearly $1.8 million each year between the main library and Centennial Branch its usage needs to be improved.

"Obviously we have to be conservators of the public's dollar particularly in this environment," Bradford said.

Rumors circulating that efforts to analyze the library's operations could eventually lead to its closing, though, are false, Bradford said.

"I know of no conversations or of any intent to close the library," Bradford said.

He said the assessment also has nothing to do with the Heritage building project's cost and said the new courthouse will be completed within its budget.

"Our economy is down. We have for the first time in history falling consumer pricing and inflation on the horizon," Bradford said. "Common sense says you try to adjust ahead."

He said the county intends to continue funding the library, though he also said it's not required to do so and in many areas cities run the library system. In Midland, the library is part of the county and city's exchange of services through the inter-local agreement, which also includes things like the city's fire department and county's jail.

Johnson said despite reassurance from the commissioners' court this process isn't about determining who will keep their jobs, knowing a committee has been formed and a consultant is coming in has made her staff nervous.

How involved the final report and any action taken will be, Bradford said, depends entirely on what each of the four legs reports, including information from Johnson.

President of the newly formed citizens' committee Jon Thoma said they'll be sending a survey out to Midlanders in the next few months asking things like why they do or don't use the library now, if the library should be located downtown and what would draw them there in the future.

And though some on the committee mentioned the idea of forming more neighborhood libraries like the Centennial Branch rather than keeping the focus downtown, Thoma said whatever the recommendation from those surveyed, they see maintaining a library presence as key.

"Libraries are one of the most fundamental needs in a community," Thoma said.

Committee member Rachel Stone said citizens she's talked with have concerns with the safety of the library and its parking, think its collection is outdated and mentioned the staff being unfriendly, which are the kind of responses they're trying to obtain.

Johnson said the idea of several smaller branches actually would cost much more and be difficult because its cataloguing has to take place at a central location and some of the library's collections can't be broken up.

She agrees improvements certainly can be made, and said as a staff they're continually meeting to discuss how to improve circulation by trying to better communicate with schools, adding a teen area and doing other things. Adjusting to the wave of electronic readers is something they anticipate doing in the coming years, she said, though currently they don't think it would yeild enough return on the investment.